


Driving Proficiency

by HeliosAlpha



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 15:13:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21163712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeliosAlpha/pseuds/HeliosAlpha
Summary: Hades offers to give Persephone some driving lessons.





	Driving Proficiency

**Author's Note:**

> All of my love to Juliabsquared for beta-ing the first half of this for me.
> 
> I have laboured for a solid month over this beast. And now I'm done. Don't look at me.

Hades leaned back against the lamp post behind him, enjoying the warmth of the early Autumn sun.  _ Shame it doesn’t come unaccompanied _ , he reflected.  _ It’d be nice to get this at home every now and again. _ He sighed, scanning the crowd. Students leaving afternoon classes parted around him, like they were the sea and he was Charybdis herself. Their faces transformed from chirpy, youthful vibrancy to wan solemnity as they scurried past, heads down. Unsurprisingly (if somewhat irritatingly), he felt eyes on him from every angle, despite all heads in the vicinity turning away.

All except one.

The faces of buildings surrounding the college courtyard rang aloud with the sound of her mock outrage. “Eighty percent!” she cried, bounding through the crowd, waving one arm as high in the air as she could. She looked beautiful, her carefully curated outfit supporting her earlier statements to him:  _ if I have to wear a chiton for much longer, I'll strangle myself with it,  _ her secret letter had read, and oh, how that showed. Her hair was cropped as short as he'd ever seen it, drawing attention to her incredible bone structure and the elegant slopes of her neck. Despite the heavy bag slung over one shoulder, she looked free and unburdened - like leaving the mortal realm was less of a goodbye and more of a homecoming. 

Hades heard her babbled discourse as she wriggled through the throng of students, determined, yet painfully overlooked by her peers. “Excuse me - I have to - oh, sorry! - I just need to - my friend is - ha!” She emerged, triumphant in front of him, out of breath and from top to toe, radiantly gorgeous. Internally, he melted. Externally, he gave her a soft, indulgent smile.

“I think a thirty percent increase is excessive.” She beamed up at him, scrunching up her nose in delight. “I’m just standing here.”

“You never told me you’d be here! I could have taken off, right from the outside the Mysteries building, and never even seen you! So, yes. Total scoundrel.” The distance between them almost hummed with tension. He longed to wrap her up, to enfold her in his arms in the warm Autumn sun and never let go. The summer break had enforced some kind of barrier between them. Alarmingly, he noticed that the casual, easy manner she touched him with was stifled. Time apart had not been good for them. 

He held out his hands from his sides in a self-deprecating expression. “Alright then, I see what you mean. Eighty percent it is. I will endeavour to lower it, little Goddess.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?”

“I, uh…” He laughed, sheepishly. “I came to surprise you. You’re not busy, are you?”

Persephone looked over her shoulder to where her friends were hovering, waiting for her.  _ I’m bailing, _ she mouthed, indicating Hades with her head minutely.  _ Sorry! _ “Nope! I was just going home. Why?”

His smile widened.  _ This will do it. _ “You sent me a copy of your learner’s permit.”

“Yeah! I emailed it over as soon as I got the card.”

“Oh, no, Kore. I didn’t tell you to get your permit. I told you to get your  _ license. _ ”

“Right. And those are different, how?” she questioned, raising a brow at him amusedly.

“You have to pass a test before you are considered to have your license. It’s not just the card you need.”

Clarity crossed her features, followed by contempt. “Ugh! I knew it wouldn’t be that simple. Okay, how do I pass the test?”

“Lessons.”

She groaned. “Oh, no. I can’t afford to pay for those.” She flushed, looking up at him. His heart tugged at him inside his chest, chiding him for being cruel, pleading with him to stop. Begging him to comfort the image of perfection before him, looking up at him with fearful doe eyes.  _ But...this will do it _ .

“I had taken that into consideration,” he replied solemnly. “Which is why I came to meet you and discuss it as a matter of urgency.”

She took a step closer, eyes swimming. “Hades, look, I know I need my license, but I didn’t have it through the whole of my internship and I managed fine! I’ll get it, I promise, I just can’t pay for lessons right now, and I  _ definitely _ can’t ask Mama for a loan - she barely spoke to me all summer on account of the whole ‘not gonna be an eternal maiden’ thing. Please - I need this job.” She bowed her head and laced her fingers together, pleading with him.

_ This. _ “What? You think I’d  _ fire you? _ The shade coordination department hasn’t been so organised in centuries, Persephone! I came to meet you after class to ask if you wanted me to  _ give _ you some driving lessons now that you have your permit, not to tell you to clear out your desk!”

The sound that came out of her might have deafened a mortal, and the shuddering distance between them closed in her fury.  _ Yes.  _ She swatted at him with both hands, over and over, outraged. “Don’t you ever do that to me again! Oh my goodness, you hateful, hateful man! Yes! I do want driving lessons! One hundred percent!” He laughed, fending her off, until she knocked the wind from him by launching herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Thank you,” she finished breathlessly, as he returned the hug and pressed his face into her neck. Bold, even brazen by his standards. One of her little hands worked its way up into the short hairs on the back of his head: he dared to dream that this meant her feelings hadn't changed from the last time they had seen each other… 

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, low and repentant. She squeezed him, and he relaxed, forgiven.

She trotted ahead of him to the parking lot, the cool wind blowing golden leaves across the road in front of them. Persephone still carried her huge, cross body carry all, making some sort of teasing comment about his age before easily shouldering the huge thing. It sat slung across her back, defiant, blocking his view of her sinfully tiny waist. Even worse, blocking his view of her hips swinging as she walked, and what that glorious oscillating motion did to her behind. The black leather holdall stood out starkly against her white outfit - a cropped cardigan hung loose on one shoulder, paired with a wrap dress and a towering pair of stiletto heels that made him weak to look at for too long. 

Seeing her lean against the machine, he knew he’d made the right choice. The Audi TT oozed understated elegance, from its sleek lines and powerful, broad profile, to the surprising aggression of the engine - small, yet punchy. Perfect for Persephone, although most certainly not the favourite among his coupés. 

He opened the passenger side door for Persephone, whereupon she finally relinquished her hold on her bag, tucking her shapely legs into the footwell. She immediately kicked her shoes off, stretching her legs out in the confined space and wriggling her toes. Hades groaned internally and shut her door, dropping her book bag in the trunk. He swung himself into the driver's seat, turning to his passenger's upturned, smiling face. 

"I'll drive somewhere slightly less busy for your first official lesson, if that's alright." She nodded keenly.

Hades checked his mirrors and dropped his hand to the gearstick. Reaching for the key in the ignition, he jumped to feel the warmth of a tiny pink hand covering his own atop the gear stick. 

"I'm really glad to be back, you know."

He gave her a shy smile, cursing himself internally for the way his skin coloured at her admission. "I'm glad too, little Goddess." It was her turn to blush now, her cheeks and the tips of her ears darkening prettily. He turned his hand over, capturing her fingers between his own, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. 

Persephone's blush deepened and she giggled girlishly, snatching her hand to her chest. "Come on. I thought you were gonna teach me, not flirt with me in your car. You have your scoundrel percentage to think of."

"Flirting?" he grinned conspiratorially, winking at her. "That doesn't sound like me at all." She affixed him with a disbelieving expression. Hades chuckled, and twisted the key in the ignition. The car thrummed to life beneath them, and he drove carefully, keenly aware of a pair of eyes tracking his every movement. 

"Okay," he pulled over in an appropriate spot. Not too busy, but not so far into the back roads of Olympus to become labyrinthine and intimidating. "This is a good spot. Are you ready?" 

"I think so! Do I need to put my shoes on?" Hades peered into the foot well, leaned over and picked up one of her pumps, brushing her calf with the back of his wrist as he withdrew it. Her smooth skin prickled at the unexpected contact. The shoe rested easily in his hand, the precarious heel minimising its footprint to the point that the toe barely extended past the end of his palm.  _ Oh, Gods.  _ He ignored the insistent first stirrings of arousal in his lap.  _ Now is not the time.  _

"Not the most practical shoes for driving in, I'm afraid, Kore," he admitted, tearing his eyes away from the tiny stiletto in his hand. "And you shouldn't drive with bare feet, either, if you can avoid it. But, forward thinking as I am, I accounted for this." He reached behind him and felt around on the seat behind him, producing a box. "These should serve, if I'm as good a guesser as I think I am." Persephone's eyebrows shot up and she opened her mouth, ready to protest. He shushed her imperiously, grinning at the indignant scowl that earned him. "Look. They weren't expensive, and they might not even fit yet. Just indulge me this once - call it your welcome back present."

She begrudgingly accepted, but not without complaint: "I can't believe you just shushed me."

"And I will regret it for the rest of my days," he lied, his expression contradicting his words. She rolled her eyes and extended a leg out across the car, her pretty pink foot resting in his lap. He swallowed thickly. She wiggled her toes at him, pointing her foot like a ballet dancer. He quailed. A deep, burning longing curled and tensed within him, to plant a kiss on the delicate little sole of her foot and watch the way she would shiver.

"Well? Let's see how good a guesser you are," she teased, blissfully, mercifully unaware of his current train of thought. He unboxed the shoes wordlessly - pretty, plain flats - and slipped the right one onto her foot. His blushes were spared in favour of smugness. A perfect fit. She held out her other foot, and he replicated the action, letting his touch linger for just a moment too long at her heel, running his fingertips up the taut tendons that fed into her tiny, cervine ankle. 

"Alright then," he declared a touch too loudly, making them both jump in the confines of the car. "Let's switch places, and we can get started."

***

Persephone sat in the driver's seat, not for the first time, but with an acute awareness that this time would be very different. She had admitted her naivete, for one, which made her feel vulnerable and foolish. 

(But weren't things different, anyway? Even the easy way they touched one another was different, more charged than it had come to be in those months before the summer. The falling leaves had brought with them some tension, some electric  _ difference _ that sparked between their every glancing touch and blistered at protracted caresses, like the reverent way Hades had slipped the shoes onto her feet.) 

(A goddess recognises worship when she sees it.)

And for another, the car that Hades had chosen for this lesson (two-seater, sleek, showy - typical) was a manual transmission. She eyed the gear stick dubiously. 

"Anyone can drive an automatic, Kore," he sniffed derisively. "I hold you to a higher standard." He directed her in her seat adjustments. "Push down on that lever and it'll raise the seat. Okay, good, now pull the bar under the seat up and scooch forward - yeah, probably all the way for now. It'll click - like that. Good."

"I feel claustrophobic!" She gestured wildly at the steering wheel, far too close to her body. He chuckled, closely examining her position. Her skin prickled. 

"Okay, now pull down on the lever under the steering column - here.” He reached over between her and the machine, indicating the lever. He moved carefully, making his instructional intentions clear; Persephone did her best to watch diligently, but the brush of his arm against her chest made her heart pound. His casual demeanour suggested that he hadn’t noticed. The faint blush dusting his high cheekbones marked him as a liar. 

“Push the wheel in and pull it downwards.” She pulled it towards her lap, noting how his watchful gaze lingered, just a second too long on the downward movement. “Can you rest the heel of your hand on the top of the wheel without locking your elbow? Exactly like that. Perfect. How about your clutch foot? Depress the clutch fully." She complied, feeling his eyes rake over her evaluatively. "Hmm. Is your leg fully extended or do you feel too close?" 

She wrinkled her nose. "Too close."

"Okay, just push the seat back a couple of clicks.” She pushed backwards, the muscles in her thighs tensing as she did so. “Is the wheel too far away now? Pull it - exactly.” Clumsily fumbling with the lever, she pulled against the resisting pressure, uncooperative in her inexperience. Initially too stiff to manipulate, then all at once supple and pliant under her grip. She finally coaxed it into a position she was comfortable with and fastened the catch. 

Hades reached over, grasping the wheel, hand a hair’s breadth from her own. He pulled on it experimentally. “Good. That lever can be troublesome sometimes.” He flashed her a smile. “It's just common sense once you know where all of the controls are. Try the clutch again." She did so. This time, he leaned in closer, watching the motion of her foot bearing down on the pedal. The air in the car felt stifling - Persephone was sure heat was radiating off her in waves, and he was more than close enough to feel it. He hummed approvingly, leaning back in his own seat. Her whole body cried its displeasure at his sudden absence.

"Alright then. We're ready. Tell me what you think you already know about driving a manual, Persephone."

Casting her mind back to the books she had read while lying in the dappled evening sun in the woods of home, she recited the instructions. His eyes were on her, constantly. Hades nodded thoughtfully through her explanation, his piercing crimson gaze boring into the very fibre of her being. 

"For a purely theoretical understanding, that's not bad. Let's see how you get on, then. Start the car."

She obeyed quietly. 

"Come on, now. You just told me how to do this. Let's see it."

_ Alright, Persephone. It’s just like last time, with an extra step or two.  _ She pressed down on the clutch, shifted into first gear, released the handbrake, and raised the clutch. The car shuddered and clattered beneath her, throwing them forward in a spiteful, juddering lurch and cutting out.

“Oh.” Her hands flew from the wheel like she’d been burned. She exhaled shakily, displeased to say the least. “Turns out, I don’t know how to do this.”

Hades chuckled warmly, his smile fond. “It’s just stalled, sweetness. Perfectly normal. Not great for the engine if it happens too often, but it happens to the best of us. It’s good to know what it feels like,” he reassured her.

“Well, I don’t like it.” She scowled down at the steering wheel. “I wasn’t expecting it to feel like that. It was horrible.”

“It’s far from horrible when you get it right,” he replied casually. She turned to look at him, quirking an eyebrow, watching as his words echoed in his mind.  _ Wait for it...he’ll realise...there it is. _ Their eyes met, and he cleared his throat self-consciously. "Driving, that is. I mean. Er." Persephone smirked, then giggled. He rolled his eyes at her, unable to hide his own grin. “Alright. Turn the engine off, put the car into neutral, and try again. This time, leave the handbrake on and I’ll talk you through it. You need to get the bite right.”

“The what?”

He laughed again, a deep rumble within his chest. She wondered distantly how he managed to laugh at her and still make her feel as if she were in on the joke. “The bite. Let me explain.” She followed his instructions, looking up at him expectantly. He explained. “Lift your foot, slowly. Can you feel that?” She did so experimentally. The note of the engine changed and the dull thrumming of the car beneath her became more insistent, a dull, growling rumble that shuddered at her touch. She thrilled. “Just a little further - the width of a coin.” The car protested, pulling on the handbrake, coiled against itself. “Fantastic,” he breathed, leaning in. She reeled from the proximity; the urge to turn her face to his and capture his lips with her own was all-consuming. She shook herself and refocused.  _ Not now. Listen _ . “Now add just a little gas, take the handbrake off and pull up off the clutch.” She complied. The car lurched forward, jerkily, but they were moving. She squeaked as he effused with praise beside her, all smiles and admiring looks. Again, the note of the engine changed, and she shifted - more successfully this time - into second gear. And then third, and fourth, and fifth. 

She sailed along delightedly, navigating corners and traffic signals with only minor difficulty. “Kore, you’re doing an incredible job,” he interjected between directions. “You’re a real natural.” She beamed at him, proud of her accomplishments. “Do you want to head to somewhere a little more busy and see how you get on with traffic?”

Why not? She could conquer anything. Thirty minutes ago, she had never driven a manual car before. Thirty minutes before, she had only ever been behind the wheel once before in her entire life, and now she was a  _ natural _ . What could go wrong?

***

“You’re fine, there was plenty of space, ignore him,” Hades soothed, giving the irate driver behind a conciliatory gesture behind her. “The gap was plenty big enough for you to merge.” The gap had been exactly car sized, truthfully, and his heart had lurched into his mouth as the driver behind them had slammed on his brakes. 

Lines of concentration strained Persephone’s face. “You’re a liar.” 

“Okay, maybe a little bit. But it’s fine. We’re immortal, remember?” He flashed her a grin and directed her down a side street.

“Yeah, but the car isn’t.”

“I could buy a new car, sweetness. Besides, nothing happened, remember? Let’s not try to salvage the remains of the afternoon when it’s still going so well.” He patted her thigh, in what was intended to be a reassuring manner. What he didn’t expect was for her to shiver under his open palm, and to feel her bare skin contract into goosebumps at his touch. She blushed crimson and stared straight ahead.

“This is just a lot,” she blurted out, quickly clarifying. “I mean - there’s a lot going on out there. There’s too many cars and I’m still thinking about which gear I need to be in, and checking my mirrors, and how big the gap is I’m trying to merge into, and if I’m going to stall when I leave the junction, and,” she made a noise of frustration here, “I just get all turned around and start to panic.”

“I can show you what I do, if you like,” Hades suggested. “It’ll give you an opportunity to stop for a moment and unwind, and I can navigate us out of rush hour Olympus as well.” He looked sheepish. “I hadn’t accounted for the traffic when I came to get you. So of course, that’s entirely my fault.”

She snorted. “How can traffic be your fault? Here, I’m pulling over. We can switch.” Indicating to the right, she pulled up sharply, making the car behind her swerve onto the opposing side of the road. It sounded its horn, and Hades saw its driver gesticulate wildly. In a startlingly poor judgement call, this car also indicated to the right. Persephone glowered at it. In what was to be the finale in a stunning selection of poor choices, the driver opened their door.

“Stay there, Kore.”

“Why?”

“A gentleman should always open the lady’s door for her.” He smiled roguishly, before opening his door and unfolding from the passenger seat to his full height. He strolled around the car, pausing ahead of the gleaming black vehicle. The TT was unassuming in its boisterousness, really. Not one of the prized items within his collection, but useful for going incognito. Nobody ever expects the King to emerge from a lower rung sports car. But it made for a remarkable reveal, if the opportunity arose. 

It was unintentional, really, that he had called up the slightest magic, the steam rising from his skin purely coincidental. The crown, well, that had always been there - the driver must have simply overlooked it. And if his smile now seemed replete with rows of sharp teeth? Why, that was likely a trick of the evening light. The door of the car ahead slammed shut and it sped off, doubtless without the driver even fastening their seat belt. How unusual.

He permitted himself a chuckle then, opening the door for Persephone. She scowled at him, for all of half a second, before giving into a reluctant, indulgent grin. She unbuckled herself and swung her legs out of the car, hauling herself up out of the low slung car onto the pavement.  _ Inside leg first, Persephone,  _ she chastised herself too late, pulling her skirt down. She noted he had averted his eyes, a faint flush creeping up his neck above his collar. His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed. 

She spoke, more to break the tension than anything. “You just can’t help yourself, can you? Gotta throw your kingly weight around.” She brushed his arm with her fingers on the way past, shooting a sly look over her shoulder as she rounded the bonnet. Hades visibly shook himself, reeling from her touch. That something different between them lingered, even now. 

“Hey, if you’ve got it, might as well use it,” he countered, albeit a moment too late. “Besides, I was just looking out for  _ her _ . I wouldn’t like to cross you in that mood.” She leveled a look at him across the roof of the car, prickling for an instant before giggling guiltily.

“I hate that you know me like that,” she complained, tousling her now shoulder length hair with one hand. “But I love that you turned on the heated seat for me.” She slid in.

“How did you know that was for you?” He pulled the seat back before even attempting to get in, earning himself a laugh from his passenger.

“Because I saw you hit the button before you got out of the car.” 

“Caught red handed,” he confessed, smiling out of his side window, before changing the subject. “Do you want to go across the bridge to the Underworld? There’s a couple of benefits to that: One, you get to practise night time driving. Two, there’s less cars, so less traffic. And three - people know my plates over there.” 

“Fates, you’re such an egotist,” she teased, before melting into the warmth of the heating elements. “Ugh, I know it’s not cold enough to justify this yet, but isn’t the warmth just so nice on your back?”

“I don’t know,” he responded truthfully, signalling and moving off into traffic. Personally, I’m in the ‘feels-like-I’ve-peed-and-I-don’t-know-it’ camp when it comes to heated seats.” 

She tittered, before adding “You know what? I can see that.”

“Listen, anyway. Let me walk you through what I’m doing.”

He had intended on being every bit the professional instructor. He’d started out with the best of intentions, narrating his process, explaining his decisions aloud. While the driving was boring, he’d done his due diligence. But very quickly, as the traffic cleared beyond the bridge and the bright lights of his Kingdom loomed in the distance, he started to have fun. 

After what had seemed like decades stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, finally they were out and clear, practically flying along roads, with the autumnal glow of Olympus fading into the background and the gleaming neon lights of the Underworld laying themselves bare ahead of the speeding car, Persephone observed, like fireworks for a homecoming. He was gorgeous like this, it occurred to her, as the lights of his kingdom reflected in his eyes and he navigated the twists and turns of roads with unadulterated, boyish glee. The car beneath them only compounded his excitement, its orchestra of roaring and rumbling playing a low, bass counterpoint to his own hisses and hums. Once or twice, he looked over at her, enthusiasm abounding, the sheer joy of the moment pouring out of him and she couldn't help but mirror his ecstasy, breathless and delighted and utterly, utterly free. 

Hades knew he was showing off, as he realised that his talk becoming less narrative and, well, less  _ talk. _ He hummed and laughed his way around bends, and when he shot a glance over at Persephone, the wild, delighted expression on her face was enough to goad him into pushing just a little harder. The TT sang to them, the engine note trilling, high pitched and joyful on the acceleration, deep and guttural growling through the Kingsway tunnels. Hades indulged himself, rolling down the windows and opening up the throttle in the enclosed space, the snarling of the engine barrelling off the walls around them, and the punchy little engine bouncing off the rev limiter elicited a delighted little noise from Persephone that made him go  _ weak. _

At the next set of red lights, the car cruised to a seamless halt, where he let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding around some particularly exciting bends. At this junction, the road split into two lanes, so naturally, he had pulled up in the left hand lane, ready to overtake the neighbouring car off the lights.

“It’s Thanatos!” Persephone pointed out, jabbing at the window. “Look at that jerk!” He peered over at his crestfallen employee, looking as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. Hades didn’t consider it too deeply. Thanatos gripped the wheel and stared straight ahead.  _ Look at me, you smug little fuck.  _

Hades sounded his horn. Thanatos jumped, making eye contact with him for the first time, and seemingly,  _ finally _ , acknowledging his smirk for what it was.

Hades revved his engine.

“Hades, what are you doing?”

Thanatos revved back.

“Oh, no.”

“Oh,  _ yes, _ ” he hissed, tightening his grip on the wheel and hitting the traction control button on the dash. 

Wriggling herself back into the bucket seat, Persephone pulled sharply up on her seat belt to secure herself and wedged her shoulders between the pads. She shivered with a mixture of fear and delight. She knew he was a capable driver; she had been in the car with him dozens of times before. Even if she had been placed into the vehicle with him at this very moment, this image of him alone would have screamed competence: the way that he reached out to adjust his rear view mirror, so assured, as if he had done it a thousand times. The way he slung his wrist over the wheel while waiting at the lights, so relaxed in this space. The way his forearm muscles tensed under his skin with every minimal adjustment of the wheel, so… 

Persephone forced herself to avert her eyes. His capability oozed from every pore. This was what he was born to be, in every aspect of his life. Self assured. Quietly confident. Her eyes played across his figure, all sharp, crisp lines and keen precision. Something within her purred to see him so  _ himself _ , so utterly powerful and at ease in this, a perfect microcosm of his own domain. 

(She remembered a whispered conversation snatched in precious private moments, the summer air hanging heavy with perfume and promise, where they vowed to one another to  _ wait until autumn -  _ what exactly for, she was never entirely certain, but this moment, this evening, felt like it could be what she had been waiting for.) 

Head thrown back against the seat, the car roared to life beneath them like a wild beast - Hades howled himself, shifting  _ second third fifth  _ with such abrupt precision, his clutch foot in perfect synchronicity with the snapping motions of his wrist as he threw the car forward. It snarled, the shifting in gears tearing through the keening noise of the engine. It surged into the empty space ahead, Thanatos keeping abreast second by second until Persephone noted that ahead, the two lanes merge into one. She shrieked, fuelled by adrenaline and panic and exhilaration, knowing one of the two cars would have to relent and it  _ wasn't going to be them _ . The front of Thanatos' car dipped as he slammed on the brakes and ducked in behind them at the very last moment, his back end fishtailing wildly as he swore and hung on to the wheel. Persephone whooped and twisted in her chair to pull faces at him through the rear window, delirious in her excitement. 

"Sweetness, my cell, call him," Hades laughed breathlessly. "It's in my pocket, just -" she reached over, sliding her hand into the pocket of his tight, tailored pants, withdrawing his cell and presenting it to him for his pass code. He waved her away, eyes unblinking on the road ahead, and told her - 5673 - she searched through his sea of contacts and hit dial. He answered almost immediately, a douchey little Bluetooth earpiece visible in the rear view mirror. 

"You're crazy!" he yelled, rattled and jittery, clearly as drunk on the adrenaline high as the two gods in the car in front. 

"Fuck, yes!" Hades hollered, laughter bouncing off the interior of the car. "That's what moving looks like, you lazy son of a bitch!" Thanatos gave a wordless, accepting groan of defeat and hung up. 

They parted ways and Hades coasted along, slowing to a more sensible speed. The return to obeying the rules of the road brought with it other regulations previously ignored, and an expression of guilt crossed his face.  _ Don't you dare,  _ she thought, interrupting him before he dared speak. "I haven't had fun like that in  _ years,  _ Hades," she effused, more true than she had realised. "This was a great idea. Thank you so much."

He turned to her, concern lining his features. "I'm not much of an instructor, I fear. More of a bad influence."

"Do you think I got in your car unaware of your roguish ways, O King?" she teased. He blushed, as she continued. "An utterly terrible influence. You know, some may even call you…"

"A scoundrel, perchance?" 

"Forty percent, at least."

"Well then, let me make it up to you." He indicated left and guided the car up a dirt track, emerging atop a hill crest. He pulled up and turned the engine off, sitting back triumphantly in his seat. "The sun’s almost set over Olympus. You should just be able to catch the view before it goes dark."

Persephone leaned forward, mouth dropping open as she took in the view. Such beautiful colours - reds, oranges, purples, taking on their final beautiful colourings before their inevitable end. She watched silently as the sky, illuminated pink and orange by the setting sun, slowly became dark. 

"We just caught the end of the show, I'm afraid. I can take you home now, if you like." 

"What?" Persephone turned to him, perplexed. "The sunset is nice, but this is my favourite part. All of the stars come out." 

She had once said his kingdom was like stars _ .  _

She gazed up at the cosmos, rapt, reaching out to him blindly. He caught her hand, enfolding her tiny palm in his own. Her eyes glistened like stars themselves, drinking in pinpoints of light in the darkness.  _ She has no idea _ , he thought to himself.  _ No idea how she looks like this.  _

Raising an eyebrow, she caught his eye. 

"Back to the grind this year, eh?" he asked, scrabbling for  _ something  _ to say that wasn't creepy, and landing instead on stupid. "I bet it feels boring now, being back at school and work."

"Heh, yeah, I guess so. Back to the same old, same old." she smiled. They fell silent. 

"And you? Things still the same there?" 

"Yep."

"So, you're still, um… waiting?" she ventured, looking out of the windscreen and affecting disinterest. He thrilled internally. She  _ had _ remembered their conversation. She had meant it. 

"It's been a long summer, Persephone." He couldn't resist testing the waters. Her head snapped towards him, her expression chagrined. "A lonely one, at that. The only person I'm interested in has been very  _ distant, _ you know." Her serious expression melted, and she caught on quickly, swatting at him with her free hand. He captured it within his own, marvelling at the way his insides leapt to simply hold her hands in his, as if he were a boy child of thirteen and this was his first foray into the realms of romance. 

"That must have been hard for you," she breathed, leaning in. "Distant? How so?" 

"Torture," he replied, mirroring her movements, his heart pounding at his ribs in delight. "She's felt worlds away for months. Almost entirely uncontactable, of course, save for one or two brief messages."

"She sounds like a vile creature." Her lips were inches from his. "I can't imagine that she's worthy of the pain she's caused you."

"Quite the opposite. She's possibly the most divine creature I have ever met, and entirely worth the wait." Persephone's breath caught in her throat in a stifled gasp, a noise that made him crumble from within as she closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his. 

She kissed him sweetly, chastely, their two points of contact being their lips and their hands, fingers now entwined. The pressure of her lips was tentative, almost questioning in their contact.  _ Is this alright?  _ it asked.  _ Do you mind?  _ He turned in his seat, letting go of one of her hands to rest his on her cheek, holding her so, so carefully, as if she were something infinitely precious. He kissed her again and again, holding her like this, wishing for the power to stretch time out indefinitely just for the two of them here, in this one, blissful moment. 

Persephone broke away first, an unreadable expression on her face for the briefest of moments as she gazed up at him intently, before she took a shaky, steadying breath and giggled self-consciously. "Better stop," she murmured, placing a hand on his chest.

"Of course." He closed his eyes, pressing his forehead to hers. "I follow your lead."

"Bad idea," she confessed, her fingers sneaking in between the buttons on his shirt, seeking out bare skin. "I meant that we're in public and I, um." She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and glanced up at him guiltily.

His resolve shattered. Hades groaned helplessly, his hand creeping up to entwine itself in her softly curling hair. The pressure of his lips on hers this time was more insistent, and she readily parted her lips for him, humming and gasping as their kisses deepened and intensified. Persephone's nimble little fingers had unbuttoned much of his shirt and crept inside, tracing the planes of his chest, running delicate fingers across knotted scar tissue so reverently it almost brought a lump to his throat. He sought to break away and she pursued him, leaning in, fisting handfuls of his shirt and  _ mewling  _ like an injured thing. She crawled into his lap, her skirts hitching up pleasingly around her thighs. 

Hades peppered her neck with kisses, hands stroking and winding themselves into her hair. Persephone gave a low moan, head tipped back, baring her naked throat to his ministrations. She writhes in his lap as his hands slowly disentangle themselves from her hair, one reaching between them to cup a breast gently, squeezing her supple, pliant flesh. She shuddered as his thumb grazed across her nipple, hardening beneath the fabric of her dress. Hades murmured his approval at the thin fabric, pinching and rolling between forefinger and thumb, eliciting a squeak from her.

She grasped his wrists firmly - her delicate little hands didn’t even come close to encompassing his arm - and placed them on her thighs. Now this he could work with. He rubbed the cool flesh beneath his palms gently, warming her chilly skin with his own. Hades moved his grasp up underneath her skirts, higher and higher, kissing and nibbling at her neck and ear all the while, searching for the line of her underwear to skim his fingers underneath.

His questing touch met deliciously soft, relenting wetness. She stuttered and choked, canting her hips instinctively towards his touch. He swore then, low growling oaths murmured into her ear that made her stomach buck and flutter deliriously at their alighting upon the soft pink shell of her ears. “Fucking Fates, Kore, you’re not wearing any underwear. Nothing whatsoever.”

“I’ve learned a lot about fashion since landing in Olympus, Hades,” she hummed in response, running her own fingers through the cropped hair at the back of his head. 

“Like how underwear is something one can simply disregard when one attends college classes?” He ran a finger between her folds and marvelled at the slickness therein.

“More like, how sometimes the best foundation garment is  _ nothing whatsoever _ ,” she purred, kissing him firmly, wrapping her arms about his neck. Hades melted into her touch, working a finger into her sinfully wet pussy. She sighed, low and guttural as he seated his middle finger within her, his palm resting against her entrance and his single digit inside her working intently in and out. Persephone’s sighs turned into sharp intakes of breath as he added a second finger, pressing insistently against her front wall, rubbing little circles of increasing speed against her g-spot. She shuddered and moaned, writhing in Hades’ lap, feeling herself clench around his skilful fingers. Reaching between them, she ran her palm over the bulge in his pants, but he entwined his fingers with her own, working his other hand at a frenetic pace within her, overwhelming, unrelenting, until she finally reached her peak and came apart at his touch, moaning and gasping for breath. She leaned back, sticky with perspiration and out of breath - her back met the steering wheel. She yelped, then giggled as she met Hades’ burning gaze.

“I almost forgot where we were,” she breathed, still enjoying the delicious aftershocks as her body squeezed his fingers - three of them now, when did that happen? - still seated deep within her. A sly grin crept across his features.

“Then please, don’t remember on my account, sweetness.” He plunged his fingers into her with renewed vigour, working her back up, her engines idling before and now accelerating madly towards a finish line she could hardly believe was approaching so fast as she keened and whimpered atop him.

“Please, oh Fates, just fucking hurry up and - ah!” She crested a hill, riding out a surge of pleasure as he thumbed her clit - “Just fucking get your dick inside me, oh my Gods, I need you,” she panted, shaky hands reaching determinedly for his belt. It was Hades’ turn to gasp now as she made short work of his belt buckle and buttons, unzipping his fly with surprising speed and reaching a hand inside his boxers, dainty fingers encircling his aching, engorged cock. She gave a low moan, pumping him beneath her before freeing him from the fabric of his boxer shorts. The hot air of the car still felt fresh on the sensitive, weeping head of his dick, and he longed to bury it inside this sweet, unbelievable creature sitting in his lap.

Persephone shimmied forward in the bucket seat, her legs either side of his. Kneeling up above him ever so slightly, she slid his thick, blunt head between her pretty pink pussy lips. His hands at her waist tightened their grip, stilling her motion.

“Kore, I -” his doubts were silenced with his own surprised grunt as she nipped at his neck promptly, hard enough to prickle.

“I swear to all that is good, Hades, if you start agonising over morality instead of getting inside me.” She made her point clear by laving her tongue over the bite mark on his neck, kissing and sucking at the bite mark, arching her back helplessly against him. “I need you to - I can’t get the angle right, I-”

He grasped the base of his dick and guided himself into her - hot, tight,  _ so _ tight - she whimpered, eyes wide, lips pressed tightly together, altogether overstimulated and yet still pressing herself down further and further, panting tiny, shallow, gasping breaths as she took his entire length into her cunt. She almost sobbed, clenching around him and burying her head in his chest as she came again, acutely aware of the way she gushed onto his dick. Persephone clung to Hades’ immense frame, riding out the intense sensation, finally looking up into her lover’s concerned expression.

“Kore, my love, are you alright?” He cupped her cheeks in his hands. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

She shook her head and kissed him sweetly. “It’s not painful - just a little overwhelming. I’m good.”

He gave her a suspicious look. “Do you promise?”

“I give you my word,” she replied solemnly, her serious expression so out of place in this intimate moment that he laughed, enfolding her to him and kissing her tenderly, before beginning to move his hips beneath her, agonisingly slow in his care for her. She shivered and moved in tandem with him, her hips rocking against his, her breasts pressed against his torso. He groaned to feel his dick so deep inside her, and as he rested his palms comfortably against the round flesh of her buttocks, she rose from him obligingly, encouraging him to close the distance between their bodies. He surged up to meet her, thrusting into her slowly, yet firmly, delirious in the pleasure of sheathing himself entirely inside her and pulling out almost entirely. She babbled mindless, senseless words of pleasure above him, fingers plucking at his clothing, his skin, his hair. 

The world shrank to the confines of this one tiny car, with the two of them, fucking leisurely like the only two creatures in the cosmos, and as he regarded her shoulder length tresses sticking to her skin, beads of perspiration gathering and trickling into her prodigious cleavage - he captured the salty moisture with a flick of his tongue - he knew what he had known all along - that he was irrevocably hers, and would spend his eons in worship of her.

He burned to worship her.

“Climb into the back seat,” he instructed. Her skin prickled delightedly at his command, and yet as she peered into the tiny passenger seat she doubted that this was a good idea.

“Are you sure we’ll both fit?"

“It’ll work, come on.”

Persephone clumsily obliged, hurriedly apologising as she stumbled and had to plant one foot atop his thigh for balance. He laughed, again - she marvelled at the sound, and felt desire thrill through her as he made some vague comment about there being nothing to apologise for. She nestled herself into the cold leather of the back seat, wriggling slightly to avoid the seat belt socket digging into her hip. He followed, ratcheting the front seat forward and shifting in place, evaluating the size of the space he’d made, before chuckling self-deprecatingly and not even attempting to work his frame through the same small space Persephone had struggled through. “Fuck it,” he uttered simply, dissipating into black wisps of nothingness before coalescing on his knees in the footwell, shoulders between her thighs. 

She quailed before him - a vision of sublime power, the ultimate force to be reckoned with, pressing a reverent kiss to the inside of her knee and working his way along her thigh with such tender, worshipful touches - something tugged insistently at the inside of her chest.

Hades stopped to collect himself for a moment as he appreciated the view before him. Her legs spread invitingly, displaying her divine vulva, glistening with her own wetness. Leaning in to press a kiss to her, he took a shuddering inhale of her scent, opening his mouth and darting his tongue out to taste her. She hummed low beneath him, squirming down the leather to press herself more insistently against his mouth. He groaned, delving deeper, pressing his tongue into her entrance and lapping at the wetness let down from within her. Persephone caressed his head between her thighs, pushing him into her, chasing the pleasure he was only too happy to provide. He licked and sucked at her clit, entering her with a finger once more, bringing her closer and closer to the brink of orgasm, letting her chase and chase until she cried out, moments away from the precipice, whereupon he surged up to meet her. Plunging his cock into her, Hades groaned raggedly into the crook of her neck as she came noisily, clutching at him, digging her nails into his back as he pistoned his hips into her. 

The windows in the car dripped with condensation, the stars outside fractal and casting rainbows on the interior of the car. He fucked her in earnest now, leaning back and watching her face contort in ecstasy in the shimmering light - her hands worked clumsily at the tie at her waist before she gasped triumphantly, the dress falling open, baring her skin to him. He fell to worship, caressing every inch of her exposed flesh with fingertips and lips and tongue. He wished fervently for more hands, more mouths, more anything with which to appreciate her body. Her gasping breath came quicker, and he thrilled to respond, fucking her harder, rising into a crouch to get a better angle.

This was a mistake, he reflected, as cramping pain surged, lightning agony, from his heel to midway up his calf. He gritted his teeth and swore, withdrawing from Persephone. She lifted her head in alarm. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Cramped up,” he hissed, kneading the offending muscle and willing it to coax itself free of its spasm.

She giggled awkwardly. “Guess we don’t fit.”

He huffed a sheepish laugh. “Guess not.”

An idea struck him.

“Let’s get out.”

“But people will see!”

“There’s nobody here, Kore.”

“But what if someone saw us?”

“It would be the last thing they saw,” he responded simply. “At least it would be a pleasant sight - you, splayed out over the bonnet of this car…”

She hummed thoughtfully in response, fingers finding her clit. “I could be convinced.”

He inclined the driver’s chair and opened the door, hauling himself out of the car. As he stood, the chilly October air a brisk reminder of just how sweaty the inside of the car had become, he intoned words in a tongue millenia older than his companion. They rang aloud from the buildings, the cliffs, the cave mouths - and one by one, the lights of the city went out, leaving only the glimmer of the stars above. He leaned back into the car and held out a hand.

“Little Goddess,” he offered, all formalities and graces. She snickered.

“Y’know, it’s hard to take you seriously with your dick hanging out of your pants,” she remarked, as she took his hand and carefully climbed out of the back seat, her skin immediately tautening in the cold. “Oh!”

He reached into the car and withdrew his suit jacket. “Here.” She shrugged into it, the thing drowning her and almost completely obscuring the thin dress, now fruitlessly hanging to either side. His eyes raked over her and he groaned, enveloping her in his arms and placing her firmly on the bonnet in front of them. She gasped at the cold metal beneath her, and pressed herself eagerly into Hades’ warmth.

“Fuck me,” she hissed imperiously, wrapping her legs around his waist.

He complied, his flagging member again at full mast as he delved deep within her, flesh slapping against flesh. She moaned aloud, before her eyes flew open and she clapped a hand over her mouth, remembering her earlier fears of being discovered.

“Let them hear you,” he gasped, fucking her harder. “You sound so fucking good when you come, Kore,” he coaxed, knowing full well that his powers had rendered them unseen and unheard to anyone who might find themselves atop this hill crest tonight. He gently tugged at her hand, peppering it with kisses, entwining it with his own. “You are the most sublime creature to have ever lived,” he breathed, turning his attention to her throat, thrusting into her faster still. Her breath gasped and shuddered from her, and she screwed her eyes shut, spreading her arms wide across the bonnet, desperately scrabbling for purchase. He held her steady at her waist, drinking in the vision before him. Pink flushed skin stark against the gleaming black paintwork, sandwiched between his own body and the power of the engine beneath the bonnet. Part of him considered the thrill of leaving the engine idling while they fucked, the vibrating thrum of the mechanical beast below them only adding to the delicious sensation, and with the thought of that, he felt the familiar pooling of heat within him. 

Persephone raised her hips off the metal, pressing the bare soles of her feet to the grill, this new position enabling Hades to locate and hit that electrifying spot within her again and again, and she cried out, louder, the buzz of being so exposed claiming her as she ascended to her peak, with Hades hot on her heels. She came hard, her walls clutching hot and heavy on the length of his shaft and his hips stuttered, bucking erratically into her. “Kore,” he groaned, “Sweetness, I’m so close -”

“Oh, fuck, Hades, yes,” she moaned, wrapping her legs tighter around him as he gave a long, guttural moan, spending himself inside her, dick twitching, shooting his load deep within her.

She hummed luxuriantly, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him into a deep, protracted kiss. Her tongue swept across his, possessive, claiming, followed up by short, sweet pecks. She smiled up at him, before shuddering fiercely, so hard her teeth chattered together.

“It’s really very cold, you know,” she offered by way of apology. He smiled, withdrawing from her and buttoning up. She hopped down from the bonnet and darted around the car, jumping straight into the passenger’s seat. “Come on,” she called. “You have to turn the car on for the heated seat to come on!”

He chuckled to himself, murmuring words in an antique tongue that whispered from the edges of the cosmos in return. Light. The worlds beneath them breathed anew, returned to normality by the words, as if nothing had changed.

As Hades swung himself into the driver’s seat and a little pink pair of feet settled in his lap, he reflected on just how much everything had changed. 

**Author's Note:**

> (When Hades shuts the lights out Zeus is down in his living room like OH WHAT NO GROSS and makes a note to ask all about it at brunch)


End file.
